Ravichandran Ashwin has questioned the Indian team management’s call to drop Sanju Samson for the second T20I against England, arguing that such sudden selection changes can send the wrong message inside the dressing room. The former India spinner said that a player who played a decisive role in a World Cup-winning campaign deserves a longer run, especially when the team has already benefited from his performances on the biggest stage.
Samson was surprisingly left out of the playing XI for the match at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday, July 4, with teenage opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi stepping in for his India debut. The 15-year-old showed flashes of his attacking talent, scoring 14 off 10 balls and clearing the ropes twice, but India still finished on 190/7 before England chased the target down with four wickets and an over to spare.
Ashwin, however, made it clear that his larger concern was not the result but the message the selection sent to senior players. He pointed out that Samson had delivered when it mattered most in India’s 2026 T20 World Cup triumph and should have been given greater backing from the management.
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“You have two or three series ahead of you. Whoever performs well will stay in the team. If you’ve won us a World Cup, I would give you a longer rope. I said the same thing when Suryakumar Yadav was left out. Removing him as captain was fine, but maybe dropping him from the team wasn’t. I would have given that clarity: perform in these series and you’ll keep your place. If you perform, nobody can drop you,” Ravichandran Ashwin said.
Samson’s credentials in the format remain strong. He was named Player of the Tournament at the 2026 T20 World Cup after scoring 321 runs in five innings at an average of 80.25 and a strike rate of 199.37. His impact in the semifinal and final underlined why many felt he deserved more security in India’s T20I setup.
Ashwin also suggested that dropping Samson so quickly could affect the wicketkeeper-batter’s confidence and rhythm. With India currently fielding three left-handers in the top order — Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Ishan Kishan — he felt the team management may eventually need to restore balance by bringing Samson back, possibly at No. 3.
“Right now, I’m concerned because Sanju Samson has been dropped very quickly. What will Sanju be thinking now? How will he approach practice in the nets? At the moment, India have three left-handers in a row. I think they might even look at Sanju at No. 3 as a way to compensate because everyone in the coaching staff, including Gautam Gambhir, knows this wasn’t fair on Sanju,” he added.
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Ravichandran Ashwin warned that constant shuffling can damage dressing-room trust, with players beginning to wonder whether one bad series could cost them their place. Samson’s recent form had already dipped, with scores of 5 and 0 against Ireland and 1 in the first T20I against England, but his IPL 2026 campaign — 477 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 165.62, including two centuries — showed he still remains one of India’s most dangerous T20 batters.
